Symbian to be phased out by 2013

If you’re at a loose end tonight, you might want to crank things up a notch with this 200-page PDF posted on nokia.com. And just what the hell is this behemoth of a document? Why it’s a Form 20-F, of course, which the Finns recently filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Joking aside, the document reveals some pretty interesting information about the planned transition from Symbian to Windows Phone 7. On page 13, Nokia states that it expects the process to take “about two years”.

Apparently Elop and Ballmer have “entered into a non­binding term sheet… the planned partnership with Microsoft remains subject to negotiation and execution of definitive agreements by the parties.”

Skipping ahead to page 78, Nokia reveals its ambitious plans to “retain and transition the installed base of approximately 200 million Symbian owners to Nokia Windows Phone smartphones over time. We expect to sell approximately 150 million more Symbian devices in the years to come, supported by our plan to deliver additional user interface and hardware enhancements.”

And what about the elusive MeeGo, which was revealed over a year ago? “We will continue our development of MeeGo at an appropriate level as part of our longer­-term market exploration of next­ generation devices, platforms and user experiences.”

So there you have it. It’ll be 2013 before things finally settle down for the Finns. Good luck to you, sirs.

Some pretty interesting things in in those 275 pages in addition to the ones outlined above:

- We may be required or choose to share with Microsoft personal or consumer data that has
been made available to us, which could increase the risk of loss, improper disclosure or
leakage of such personal or consumer data or create negative perceptions about our ability to
maintain the confidentiality of such data.

- Consumers may be more reluctant to provide personal data to us as a result of the proposed
Microsoft partnership, which would hamper our ability to use our current business models, or
create new ones, that rely on access to personal data.

-Apple-Nokia Trial in 2012

On September 27, 2010, Apple commenced proceedings against Nokia in the Dusseldorf District Court
in Germany. Apple alleges infringement of the same nine patents asserted in the UK action. On
̈
September 30, 2010, Nokia counterclaimed in Dusseldorf alleging infringement of four patents against
Apple. Three patents were added to Nokia’s counterclaim on October 12, 2010. On December 15,
2010, Nokia filed nullity proceedings at the Federal Patent Court in Germany challenging the validity
of the nine asserted Apple patents. On December 22, 2010, Apple filed nullity proceedings at the
Federal Patent Court challenging the validity of the seven asserted Nokia patents. The first trial in the
Apple proceedings is scheduled to take place on January 26, 2012. The first trial in the Nokia
proceedings is scheduled to take place on February 9, 2012.